Philip the deacon and evangelist
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.-Acts 8:5-17***At least 800 years before Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin, Israelite army commander Omri became the 6th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land. Tirzah served as the royal city before Omri bought strategically located land and established Samaria as the royal city. In Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land, Jerusalem was the royal city. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites captive. During the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. The king of Assyria forced many Israelite survivors into Assyrian exile and brought people from other kingdoms conquered by the Assyrians to live throughout Samaria. The new inhabitants brought their idols and religious practices with them and intermarried with the Israelites. After a series of lion attacks, an exiled Israelite priest was sent to Samaria, and he taught the new inhabitants to revere the Lord God. Afterwards, the newcomers worshiped the Lord God and worshiped idols, and Israelites in Judah avoided entering Samaria. Less than 140 years after Samaria was conquered and repopulated, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. The Babylonians took prominent Israelites captive, and conquered Jersualem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ and John the Baptist were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth) months before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Jesus passed through Samaria, and taught lessons about Samaria, Samaritans, neighborliness, water, and worship, and Jesus taught about his purpose to save, not destroy, lives, and Jesus identified himself to a Samaritan woman and other Samaritans. Sometime after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 3 1/2 years after he was baptized, Philip the deacon and evangelist, and Simon Peter and John, the disciples and apostles of Jesus the Christ, spent time in Samaria.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-15:41, 21:1-17
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